Quantifying and mapping ecosystem services supplies and demands: a review of remote sensing applications

Ecosystems provide services necessary for the livelihoods and well-being of people. Quantifying and mapping supplies and demands of ecosystem services is essential for continuous monitoring of such services to support decision-making. Area-wide and spatially explicit mapping of ecosystem services based on extensive ground surveys is restricted to local scales and limited due to high costs. In contrast, remote sensing provides reliable area-wide data for quantifying and mapping ecosystem services at comparatively low costs, and with the option of fast, frequent, and continuous observations for monitoring. In this paper, we review relevant remote sensing systems, sensor types, and methods applicable in quantifying selected provisioning and regulatory services. Furthermore, opportunities, challenges, and future prospects in using remote sensing for supporting ecosystem services' quantification and mapping are discussed.     

Nationwide evaluation of quality and composition of colostrum on dairy farms in the United States

The objective of this study was to characterize the quality of maternal colostrum (MC) fed to newborn dairy calves in the United States and identify the proportion of MC that meets industry standards for IgG concentration and total plate count (TPC). Samples of MC (n=827) were collected from 67 farms in 12 states between June and October 2010. Samples were collected from Holsteins (n=494), Jerseys (n=87), crossbred (n=7), and unidentified dairy cattle (n=239) from first (n=49), second (n=174), third or greater (n=128), and unknown (n=476) lactations. Samples were identified as fresh (n=196), refrigerated (n=152), or frozen (n=479) before collection, as well as whether the sample was from an individual cow (n=734) or pooled (n=93). Concentration of IgG in MC ranged from <1 to 200mg/mL, with a mean IgG concentration of 68.8 mg/mL (SD=32.8). Almost 30% of MC contained <50 mg of IgG/mL. The IgG concentration increased with parity (42.4, 68.6, and 95.9 mg/mL in first, second, and third and later lactations, respectively). No differences in IgG concentration were observed among breeds or storage method; however, IgG was highest in samples collected in the Midwest and lowest in samples collected in the Southwest (79.7 vs. 64.3 mg/mL). Total plate count of samples ranged from 3.0 to 6.8 log(10) cfu/mL, with a mean of 4.9 log(10) cfu/mL (SD=0.9) and was greater in samples collected in the Southeast compared with other regions of the country. Pooled samples had greater TPC than individual samples and refrigerated samples had greater TPC than frozen and fresh samples. Almost 43% of samples collected had TPC >100,000 cfu/mL, 16.9% of the samples had >1 million cfu/mL. Only 39.4% of the samples collected met industry recommendations for both IgG concentration and TPC. Almost 60% of MC on dairy farms is inadequate, and a large number of calves are at risk of failure of passive transfer or bacterial infections, or both. Also, the data indicate that regional differences exist in colostrum quality.     

Effect of Tissue Disruption by Different Methods Followed by Incubation with Hydrolyzing Enzymes on the Production of Vanillin from Tongan Vanilla Beans

Vanilla is one of the most popular and valuable flavorings worldwide. Natural vanilla is extracted from the cured vanilla pods of Vanilla planifolia. The main aromatic compound in vanilla is vanillin, a phenolic aldehyde, which is produced by enzymatic hydrolysis of glucovanillin during the curing process. Although the amount of glucovanillin in the uncured green bean is present at the level of 10–15%, only an average of about 2% vanillin yield results from the traditional curing process. Therefore, the aim of the experiment was to increase the vanillin yield by obtaining the maximum conversion of glucovanillin. This was obtained by the addition of exogenous cellulase, pectinase, and beta glucosidase enzymes and cellular-damaging techniques on green Tongan vanilla beans to enhance the interaction between glucovanallin substrate and enzymes and successfully achieved vanillin production ranging from 4.25 to 7.00% on a dry weight basis. These techniques may be further refined and translated into industrial curing practices for improvement of natural vanillin yield from vanilla beans.     

Development of a Money Mismanagement Measure and cross-validation due to suspected range restriction

A measure of the tendency to mismanage money was developed in an evaluation of a representative payee program for individuals with serious mental illnesses. A conceptual model was composed to guide item development, and items were tested, revised, added, and rejected in three waves of data collection. Rasch analyses were used to examine measurement properties. The resulting Money Mismanagement Measure (M3) consisted of 28 items with a Rasch person reliability at .72. Restriction of range was likely responsible for the low Rasch reliability. Validity analyses supported the construct validity of the M3. Subsequently, a cross-validation study was conducted on an untreated sample not as susceptible to range restriction. The M3 produced a Rasch person reliability = .85 with good validity. The M3 fills a gap that can facilitate research in the understudied area of money mismanagement.     

Solid phase microextraction (SPME) combined with gas-chromatography and olfactometry-mass spectrometry for characterization of cheese aroma compounds

The applicability of solid phase microextraction (SPME) as a technique for the concentration of cheese aroma for analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) was assessed in this preliminary study. Three each of the following cheese varieties were examined: cheddar, hard grating and mold-ripened blue. Volatile components were concentrated by Carboxen-PDMS SPME fibres for 16 h (overnight) and analysed by GC-MS and GC-O. Odor compounds, which could be perceived at the olfactory port (OP), were matched with electron impact (EI) and methanol chemical ionization (CI) mass spectra. The volatile compounds identified were compared to previously reported cheese aroma compounds. Of the components identified via olfactometry, methanethiol, methional, dimethyl trisulfide and butanoic acid were present in all of the cheeses implying their essential role in the formation of basic cheese aroma. A number of alkyl-pyrazines were also found to impart roasted nutty, raw potato and savoury broth-like notes in some of the cheeses. In all cases, the aroma active compounds identified via olfactometry were in agreement with those reported in the literature. In a separate study, it was demonstrated on a number of cheeses that the adsorption of most important aroma volatiles increased consistently up to 16 h; i.e. sulfur compounds, lactones, pyrazines, phenolic compounds and benzene derivatives. For the strong-smelling pecorino and blue cheeses, however, some analyte displacement effects were observed. Data indicated that a sampling time between 9 and 16 h was appropriate and displacement/competition reactions tended to occur in strong cheeses, i.e. those which have undergone extensive lipolysis e.g. pecorino, very high concentration of butanoic and hexanoic acid, and/or β-oxidation e.g. blue cheese, with high concentrations of 2-heptanone and 2-nonanone.     

Relationship between magnesium intake and fecal magnesium excretion of ruminants

Twenty-four wethers were fed fresh cut orchardgrass, fertilized so that the magnesium concentration in the forage varied, and six lactating dairy cows were fed a 60% concentrate diet supplemented so that the magnesium concentration in the diet varied. This was to evaluate relationships between intake of magnesium and fecal excretion of magnesium in ruminants. Linear and logarithmic equations were evaluated for sheep and dairy cows. Although there was little difference between equations in ability to predict apparent absorption of magnesium at normal intakes of magnesium, the logarithmic equation was more useful for predicting magnesium apparent absorption at extreme intakes of magnesium. Constants for logarithmic equations for sheep and cows were similar; therefore, the data were combined and a single equation was derived for both species on the same logarithmic scale. Apparent absorption of magnesium in ruminants may be a function of the amount of magnesium consumed per unit of digesta surface area exposed to the rumen wall.     

Review of the Current State of Freely Accessible Web Tools for the Analysis of 16S rRNA Sequencing of the Gut Microbiome

Owing to the emergence and improvement of high-throughput technology and the associated reduction in costs, next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology has made large-scale sampling and sequencing possible. With the large volume of data produced, the processing and downstream analysis of data are important for ensuring meaningful results and interpretation. Problems in data analysis may be encountered if researchers have little experience in using programming languages, especially if they are clinicians and beginners in the field. A strategy for solving this problem involves ensuring easy access to commercial software and tools. Here, we observed the current status of free web-based tools for microbiome analysis that can help users analyze and handle microbiome data effortlessly. We limited our search to freely available web-based tools and identified MicrobiomeAnalyst, Mian, gcMeta, VAMPS, and Microbiome Toolbox. We also highlighted the various analyses that each web tool offers, how users can analyze their data using each web tool, and noted some of their limitations. From the abovementioned list, gcMeta, VAMPS, and Microbiome Toolbox had several issues that made the analysis more difficult. Over time, as more data are generated and accessed, more users will analyze microbiome data. Thus, the availability of free and easily accessible web tools can enable the easy use and analysis of microbiome data, especially for those users with less experience in using command-line interfaces.